Keyboard input devices, methods and systems

ABSTRACT

A keyboard and method for inputting graphical indicium representations of language characters formed from one or a combination of character units. The keyboard includes a plurality of keys, each key having at least one unit associated therewith but with selected keys, at least, having two or more units associated therewith. Included also is a key mapping for each key whereby selection of a key generates a mapped value of a unit associated with the selected key, the mapped value having a relational correlation with one or more relevant characters. The keys are so arranged on the keyboard that visually similar units are associated with the same or adjacent keys, and units which usually form left, right, top or bottom character parts are associated with keys generally located in physically similarly related positions on the left, right, top and bottom, respectively, of the keyboard.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to keyboard input devices and particularly thosefor the Chinese language although it is to be understood that theprinciples of the invention may well be applied to other languages whichuse hieroglyphic or other symbols or characters rather than alphabetoriented characters.

Chinese characters are generally made up of strokes and radicals.Strokes are essentially single components whereas radicals areeffectively subentities or characters. The latter embody specificmeaning and are primarily used for dictionary search, because Chinesecharacters are classified according to their dominant radicals and theirnumber of strokes.

Of course, a simple character may just have one or more simple strokesand more complex characters can be a single radical, or they could be acombination of radicals and strokes.

BACKGROUND of the INVENTION

The conventional Chinese manual typewriter has a bank of character dice.It is a bulky and heavy device and therefore not readily portable. Whena particular character is selected, the character die is removed fromthe bank, and struck onto the paper and then returned to the bank.

This is an extremely complex and difficult operation requiring a highlevel and range of mental and physical skills. Many thousands ofcharacter dice need to be stored in the bank if a modest andsatisfactory vocabulary were to be incorporated. The operator of such atypewriter has to be extremely skilled to search and locate, and thenmanipulate the device to achieve a result within a meaningful timeframe. The utilisation of such a manual typewriter is by and largerestrictive and useful only for commercial and publishing enterprises.

Since computerisation, many forms of Chinese language computer relatedtyping or input devices, methods or systems have been proposed or comeinto existence. Such devices, methods or systems are fundamentally basedon the standard electronic “alphanumeric keyboard” (Qwerty keyboard)and, in one form, use a combination of keys to activate an electronicsearch. Such a search may normally bring up a number of possiblecharacters with similar homophonic or graphic properties, and from whichthe operator may select the one required.

Electronically, Chinese characters are fundamentally linked to twoparticular “Character Sets” or “Character Codes” respectively. Thesesets or codes are often referred to as “Internal Codes” () “Traditional”() characters are linked to the Big-5 () Set. Whereas “Simplified” ()characters are linked to the GuoBiao () commonly referred to as the GB.

The Big-5 ()character set originated in Taiwan and is made up of 13,050“Traditional” characters. The characters are arranged traditionally,that is, according to the order of strokes and radicals. Each characteris given a four letter-numeral reference in descending order. Thesereferences are often referred to as the Internal Codes () of the“Character Set”.

On the other hand, the GB () character set came from the People'sRepublic of China and has about 7,000 “Simplified” characters, wherecommon words are arranged in a phonetic order, and rare words arearranged according to radical groups. It has a similar fourletter-numeral internal code. While important for technical andprogramming applications, these codes are seldom, if ever, seriouslyconsidered as a practical basis for user input methods.

Based on similar schematic structures, the “Traditional” Big-5 () andthe “Simplified” GB () share many common schematic properties. Butunfortunately, these common properties refer to very different objects,thus making it logically impossible for the two “Character Sets” toactively share the same environment at any given time. In other words,access to the two sets at any given time is denied. They are logicallyincompatible.

Moreover, in the process of character simplification and vocabularyreduction, many “Traditional” characters were retained. In the interestof reduction in the size of the vocabulary and the simplification ofform and structure, many simplified characters were contrived toindividually replace two or more different “Traditional” characters. Forconversion purposes, this has resulted in the inherent difficulties ofmatching one “Character Set” with the other. Thus while it is possibleto convert from “Traditional” to “Simplified” on a many-to-one basis, itis logically impossible to do so, without human intervention, from“Simplified” to “Traditional”. To put this in another way and where thetwo “Character Sets” are involved, it may be possible to contrive ameans by which “Traditional” texts can be automatically converted into“Simplified” forms. But when it comes to reversing the process, humanintervention is necessary.

As stated, the two “Character Sets” are mutually incompatible. Popularopinion is that a better, more inclusive and very different codingsystem is needed. One such code known as Unicode has been created. Itsinclusiveness extends across languages including English, Chinese,Japanese and Korean. Although its current version has problems and lackswidespread acceptance, it is nevertheless a very promising development.

The present invention has been developed in part in an endeavour toadapt a keyboard input device to any existing Internal Code, includingUnicode or its successors, as well as any graphic based language.

The “Traditional”() characters have been used universally until theemergence of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since then theyremain as the standard outside the PRC. As for the PRC, the “Simplified”() characters, developed concurrently with her Pinyin () spellingmethod, become the norm for Mainland China. As a whole, the two aresignificantly different from one another. Users of the two forms havemuch difficulty in understanding and writing each other's version.Furthermore, as romanisation of Chinese gained popularity over theMandarin Phonetic symbols (), spelling systems developed along separatelines, in and outside Chinese circles, leaving behind the current legacyof diversity. For “Traditional” characters, most popular dictionariestend to follow the Thomas Wade and the Guoyeu Romatzyh () spellingsystems. For “Simplified” characters, the PRC has her Pinyin ( )instead.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Previously proposed devices and systems fall into two broad inputcategories, namely the “construction” and the “spelling” categories.

The input process of the “construction” approach involves constructiongraphic characters from building components of strokes and radicals, thelatter being more than 220 in number. Systems have been developed toreduce the multitude of components that make up Chinese characters tomanageable number so that the essential number may be represented by thekeys of the Qwerty keyboard. The alphanumeric keys that identify thevarious proposed building components of characters, and the precisesequence that these keys. must follow in the input process is commonlyreferred to as the External Code () of the characters in question. Itwill now be clear to the reader that the External Code () is inseparablylinked to the Internal Code () of the “Character Set” (Big-5 or GB).

All “construction” input methods develop their own unique External Code(). Naturally, they differ from one another in their choice and numberof building components, the alphanumeric representations () thereof, andthe strict order by which the building components are to be strungtogether.

The key arrangement and keyboard operation vary from one device, methodor system to another. In the simplest form, each stroke, or stroke-formis essentially given a number or a letter of the alphabet, and dependingupon the form of device, method or system, these could be from four tosix different numbers or alphabets. These numbers or alphabets, or thecombination of the two are then keyed in sequentially. Normally they arebased on the order in which a particular character would be written,until the keystrokes are completed or would lead to what is seen as anunambiguous character, or characters showing some dominant commonfeatures.

These forms of operation need a highly skilled operator with thefollowing basic requirements:

(a) knowledge and efficiency in the use of the “alphanumeric keyboard”;

(b) a good knowledge and ability to use a given code;

(c) familiarity with a set of given rules which are often complex, rigidand inconsistent.

In the final stage of the process the operator often needs to make aselection of the particular character in mind from a number of presentedcharacters.

“Construction” systems and devices enjoy limited currency, success orlasting appeal. As noted above, the reasons for their short shelf lifeand poor appeal are obvious. With few exceptions, they require a fairlyhigh level of Chinese literacy to carry out word analysis. They alsorequire knowledge and skills to follow a rigid order of correctkeystrokes. The user is faced with a complex, rigid and daunting barrageof rules and definitions. More often than not, to achieve a desiredlevel, of typing speed, special External Codes need to be committed tomemory. Distinctions may need to be made regarding “common” and “rare”words so that they may be treated differently. With few exceptions, ifany, there is absolutely only one way to construct any particularcharacter. They fail to provide for marginal errors, users' lack offamiliarity with the many and different forms of variant words (current,archaic, corrupted, popular, in-use, out-of-use, printed, orhand-written forms). And for input purposes, they do not accept suchvariants. When typing mixed Chinese and English texts, users arerequired to manually and repeatedly switch between the two (Chinese andEnglish) input methods. Often when users reach an input impasse, theyhave no other choice but to switch over to other input methods in orderto carry on, if at all possible. Finally, having done some or all of theabove, the users must look for and select the targeted word from wordlists presented on the screen.

In brief, current “construction” devices, methods and systems based onthe Qwerty keyboard are rigid and user-unfriendly. Prospective users aredissuaded from using them because of the skills and levels of commitmentrequired of them.

Most marketed products are based on the “Spelling” approach. While it isrecognised that the Pinyin () romanisation has gained ascendancy in thisfield, it must be borne in mind that there is no universally recognisedstandard of romanisation. Nor is there likely to be one in theforeseeable future.

Like its western counter-parts, romanised words can be arrangedalphabetically and phonetically in descending order. Relatively, theyare simple to classify, encode and manipulate. However, unlike Latinbased languages Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua ) in particular is ahomophonic language with four specific levels of tonal values. Thoughcompletely different in their meaning, usage or form, many Chinese wordsshare common phonetic and tonal values.

Furthermore, the same words may change their context-specific meanings,often resulting in changes of phonetic and tonal values. On the otherhand different words may have the same phonetic and tonal values whetherthey have the same meaning or not. Therefore one may list words whichshare certain common sequential letters of the alphabet, or all theletters of words. But owning to the commonly shared homophonic and tonalvalues, it is logically impossible to eliminate the process ofselection. The process of indexing may reduce substantial difficulties.For example, it may help narrow word lists, or reduce the tasks oftyping out the full words. But whatever their improved capabilities maybe, by themselves or in concert, they cannot provide any absolutesolution.

Various methods of indexing have given rise to various “intelligentsystems” or intelligent features. Indexes are established for frequentlyused words, used in association with one another, words used inassociation with terms or phrases, and words used in context withimmediately preceding words, and so on. These “intelligent” features areincorporated into many systems or are offered as options to be turned onand off. At their best, these are helpful features only for some of thetime. At their worst, they may become woeful distractions, liabilities,or down right nuisance. The truth is no “intelligent” systems orindexing can possibly anticipate absolutely what the user has in mind.

Speakers of Chinese as a second language have found it necessary to usesomething like Pinyin () to get them started. But even at a very earlystage, they need to make a quick transition from the romanised to thegraphic forms if they are to make any progress at all. Once thetransition is made, learning takes place in the traditionally Chinesefashion—constant practice, hand writing exercises and word drills. Oncethe transition happens, confidence and competency in romanisation isoften diminished through disuse and lack of practice.

For native speakers, language acquisitions begin at an early age. Thoughone may possibly be introduced to romanisation at a later stage of thelearning process, it would hardly ever be necessary to think or operatein a romanisation environment, except for computer operations. As in thecase of speakers of Chinese as a second language, romanisationinevitably suffer the same fate. Thus it is not surprising that mostChinese speakers do not know or have the confidence and competence inromanisation to be enthusiastically interested in using “spelling”products.

One of the serious difficulties with all the existing “spelling”devices, methods or systems is that it is an imported “foreign” phoneticsystem. There is no universally accepted standard of spelling and it isunlikely that such a standard will be adopted in the foreseeable future.

Another difficulty relates to the complexity of the Chinese language. Itis common that users who possess a high level of Chinese literacy maynot know the pronunciation, much less the correct pronunciation of agreat many words, even though they may know their meaning and useabsolutely. There are also many instances when they may not know thenumerous variant forms of the same words. As we have noted earlier, suchvariant forms extend over a range of current, archaic, corrupted,popular, in-use, out-of-use, printed and handwritten forms. A search ofthe dictionary may not necessarily resolve the difficulty because of thediffering spelling systems and such systems are based either on aforeign language alphabet (English) or the Mandarin Phonetic alphabet(). With reference to the latter, comparatively few are familiar withit.

The fundamental difficulty with the “spelling” system is that when theuser is not able to spell a given word, or spell it correctly accordingto the spelling system in use, he would find it difficult to proceed. Tospell properly, the user needs to know the correct and standardpronunciation or words, distinguish subtle differences in phonetic andaccent, deliberate on linguistic, geographical and subjective culturaldifferences, consult different spelling systems and dictionaries, and soon. Thus, ultimately, if it is not possible to pronounce a wordperfectly and correctly, an impasse is reached.

The present invention attempts to address at least some of thefundamental problems mentioned above. The outcome lies not in theincorporation of foreign elements into the system or the acceptance ofthe Qwerty keyboard as the ultimate tool. Its approach is based on thenature of the Chinese character itself, and, in particular forms, theinvention makes the prior art, alphabet-oriented spelling approachredundant.

Speech Recognition and Writing Pad

Great advances are being made in the area of speech recognition andelectronic writing pads. However, as practical and efficient inputmethods, they are still a very long way away from displacing, if ever,the generic need for a keyboard. However, they do have practical anduseful applications. Furthermore, almost all the above mentionedproblems faced by “spelling systems” apply equally, if not more, tospeech recognition.

As discussed herein, it can be seen that proposals hitherto are targetedat specific minority groups. Proposals utilising the “construction” and“spelling” methods have serious limitations and are not easy to use.Without exception, they are totally reliant on the Qwerty keyboard. Itis considered that such restrictive dependence is their common, mostserious and fundamental shortcoming. The Qwerty keyboard evolved fromthe specific nature of the English language that is fundamentally andgenerically different from and far less complex than Chinese. Thus,attempting to fit Chinese into an English model must lead todifficulties.

The mass market would not be better served by a proliferation of more ofthe same kind, or improved versions of what are already in the market. Asolution lies in decisively moving away from a slavish dependence on theQwerty keyboard.

Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a keyboard, and in oneparticular embodiment, a keyboard for use with the Chinese language,that substantially overcomes the restrictions and difficulties ofexistent input devices, methods or systems set out hereinbefore.

It is also desirable to provide a keyboard that can be readily andflexibly operated by an operator without the necessary prerequisites ofhigh degrees of skill and knowledge of the system and respectivelanguages as is required by other input devices.

It is also desirable to provide a keyboard input which is able to beused in a method of identifying characters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a keyboardfor inputting graphical indicium representations of language charactersformed from one or a combination of character units, the keyboard havinga plurality of keys, each key having at least one unit associatedtherewith, the units all being different and each forming at least apart of a character, the keys being so arranged on the keyboard thatvisually similar units are associated with the same or adjacent keys, akey mapping for each key whereby selection of a key generates a mappedvalue of the unit associated with the selected key, the mapped valuehaving a relational correlation with one or more relevant characters,and selection of one or more further keys which are associated with thesame or other units provide further mapped values consistent with atleast one of the relevant characters such that a character that isunique to the selected key or combination of keys is determined.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a methodof constructing graphical indicium representations of languagecharacters formed from one or a combination of character units includingthe steps of:

providing a keyboard having a plurality of keys each having at least oneunit associated therewith, each unit being different from each otherunit, and each forming at least a part of a character,

arranging the keys so that visually similar units are on the same oradjacent keys,

mapping each key to a mapped value which is a relational correlationwith one or more relevant characters, generating one or more charactersin response to a first or subsequent key actuation and constructing acharacter in accordance with the key actuations or the sequence of keyactuations.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, embodimentsthereof will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdocuments and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic, top view of a keyboard in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention showing some of the non-radical blocks whichmay be used to construct a character of a “Traditional” set,

FIG. 2 is a schematic, top view of a keyboard similar to that shown inFIG. 1 but for use with a different (“Simplified”) character set,

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the keyboard of FIG. 1 showing the fulllayout of the characters and non-radical composite blocks for producingthe traditional character set,

FIG. 4 is a view similar to that of FIG. 3 but for use is producing the“Simplified” character set,

FIG. 5 is a schematic top view of a keyboard marked to illustrate thematrix of the “Traditional” and “Simplified” sets,

FIG. 6 is a list of the key value matrix for the “Traditional” keyboard,

FIG. 7 is a list of the key value matrix for the “Simplified” keyboard,

FIG. 8 is cancelled,

FIG. 9 is a list of sample entries for a GB character input database;

FIG. 10 is a list of sample entries of a Big-5 character input database;and

FIG. 11 illustrates a preliminary design of a two-in-one, stand-alonekeyboard in accordance with another embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following description of the embodiments of the presentinvention, and in the claims, the following terms are used which areintended to have the following meanings:

A “non-radical composite block” is a component of a character that is acombination of strokes and can appear in a number of different radicalsor characters, but which has no meaning of itself. Such non-radicalcomposite blocks provide a unique aspect of the invention. They are notfound in the radical index of a dictionary or independently anywhere ina Chinese dictionary. By providing these unique composite blocks, it ispossible to limit, to a very substantial degree, the number of differentbuilding units or components necessary to clearly define and construct adesired character.

A “unit” is a graphic indicium representation of any character, stroke,radical or non-radical composite block. Each key of the keyboard of theinvention has at least one unit generated by actuation of the key.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates in schematic form akeyboard showing some of the non-radical composite blocks and unitsassociated with the various keys and which are used to construct acharacter of the “Traditional” character set. FIG. 2 illustrates asimilar layout for the “Simplified” character set. FIGS. 3 and 4illustrate the respective keyboards showing the full layout ofcharacters, strokes, radicals and non-radical composite blocks forconstructing the “Traditional” and “Simplified” character sets. On eachkey is a number of what looks like uncompleted parts or units of acharacter. Some of these have dots, a line or strokes missing. Otherunits are simple forms of characters (non-radical blocks) that can becombined with other units to form words. There are two fully formedwords embedded in each key. A careful look at the units on each key willreveal all the units on each key share a common basic form. This commonbasic form, often a word in its own right, appears in a larger print,and placed at the centre of the key. These arrangements are part of thedesign to help an operator quickly to identify the individual units andkeys that are needed for the construction of words.

Each key shows the units associated therewith as well as the relevantcommon feature of the units, and different characters, radicals, strokesand/or non-radical composite blocks to which the unit gives rise whenactuated. Thus, referring to the key having the key value j10 in FIG. 3,the common element of the associated units is shown on the centre of thekey and two units are illustrated in the boxes at the top of the key.One unit is generated when the key is actuated normally and the otherunit is generated when the key is actuated in conjunction with the“shift” key. As can be seen from FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, groups of keys areseparated from other groups so that the keyboard can be conceived as aset of “mini-keyboards” (sub-keyboards), which can consist of a singlekey, or two keys, or up to 25 keys.

As has been pointed out, there are two fully formed words embedded ineach key. When a particular key is actuated, the word embedded in thatkey may appear in a window on a display screen. In one form of theinvention, if the space bar is actuated, the word will be transferred toa text area of the screen. If the key is actuated in its “shift”position, the keyboard and screen will respond by delivering theembedded word in the “shift” position. The operator, therefore, has animmediate vocabulary of more than 200 words.

In order to obtain an output from the keyboard, each key is mappedaccording to its position in columns and rows of the keyboard, and isassigned an alphabetical letter, followed by two digits, as shown in thedrawings. This assignment is called the “key-value” or the“character-value”. These two terms are used interchangeably. The letterrepresents the column position (A to N). The first digit represent therow position (zero to eight), and the second digit (either “zero” or“three”) represents whether the key is in the “lower” case (digit“zero”) or “upper” case (digit “three”). By “lower case” is meant agiven key is activated independently of the “Shift Key”, registering thevalue ‘zero’ (0). By “upper case” is meant a given key is activated inconjunction with the “Shift Key”, registering the value ‘three’ (3).

FIG. 5 shows the key values of a keyboard with the lower case and uppercase key values for each key. These key values are stored in a table,and interact with the key value matrix, examples of which are shown inFIGS. 6 and 7. This table is a register of the physical location of theindividual keys, and is preferably resident in the processor of thekeyboard.

The keyboard can have any required number of keys, but it is preferredthat it has 103 input keys, about the size of a conventionalalphanumeric “Qwerty” keyboard. The commercially manufactured keyboardmay incorporate a set of function and cursor keys that are not shown inFIGS. 1 to 4. It may also have a given set of alphanumeric keys embeddedin some of the keys and activated by a toggle key or, alternatively itmay have a virtual alphanumeric keyboard loaded into memory, which canbe toggled on and off by a function key and activated by a pointingdevice like the mouse. This preferred option opens the way for theinclusion of keypads for mathematical, scientific symbols, and otherlanguages. Provisions may be provided for the keyboard to piggyback onto an alphanumeric keyboard. But it is preferred that it is astand-alone device, a look-alike of the Qwerty keyboard incorporatingall the essential keys of the latter, such as is shown in FIG. 11.

The keyboards of the embodiments described are designed to be used inconjunction with a computer or other form of word processing systemwhereby appropriate software is able to respond to the actuation of thekeyboard in the usual manner and produce an output on a screen, monitoror other output device that is representative of the key input.

As indicated, the units are basically arranged so that the units on aparticular key have common features, and more often than not, the basisof this common feature is the unit shown on the centre of the key. Thedesign is such that an operator looking for a particular visual unit canbe led quickly to the key upon which it has been placed by looking forthe basic common feature of this key.

An important feature of the embodiments described herein is the use ofthe “non-radical composite block” that assist in the application of theinvention and forms an important feature of the systems illustrated. Thelayout of the keys is another important feature of the illustratedembodiments. The layout of the keyboard itself is so designed that thekeys are placed in their most logical locations. For example, the unitswhich usually form the top or bottom part of a character are preferablyplaced at the top or bottom of the keyboard, and those forming the rightor left part of a character are placed at the right or left side of thekeyboard respectively. Furthermore, those units which tend to be at thetop left, top right or bottom left of a character are placed in thosecorresponding general areas of the keyboard.

In the different sub-keyboards previously referred to, sets of differentunits are incorporated. For example:

(a) A set of simple strokes which can generally be a single stroke ortwo strokes;

(b) The sets of crosses that can have a number of different forms butinclude at least two strokes crossing each other;

(c) The set of hooks which are those combinations of strokes where thereare strokes in at least two different but not opposite directions andjoined at one end;

(d) The set of squares which are those units which include at leastthree sides of a square; and

(e) Sub-sets of the squares, being squares with strokes or crosses.

In the illustrated embodiments, the units on a key can either bestrokes, radicals, non-radicals composite blocks, or character blocks.Having two units sharing the same key makes no difference as far as theconstruction process is concerned because the units on any given key aretreated as mutually exclusive. When the same key is activated twice ormore, or if a valid sequence of up to four keys is activated, only onevalid result will occur. In use, the operator simply looks at thecharacter to be entered and ascertains what particular patterns arerequired to define and construct the targeted character, and then seeksthe keys that have the units. It will be recalled that the units arebased, grouped and laid-out according to their respective common shapesand patterns.

In use of the keyboards illustrated, an operator should quickly commitcertain groups of keys to memory. The first group of 4 keys is found onthe top right-hand side of the keyboard, extending downward. These keysare related to frequently used personal pronouns, verbs and adjectives.Tagged on to this group is the key for the Chinese “inverted commas”.The units “,,,” on this key have to do with those parts of words thatare found mostly on the right hand side of words. The other units , arederivatives of and .

The second group of four keys is located horizontally at the bottomright hand side. Two of them are punctuation marks. The other two areunique keys. One has to do with units that form the bottom part ofwords. The other has to do with units that resemble the form of a “pairof spectacles”. The third group of four keys is located next to thesecond group. The keys of this group share the common feature ofsymmetrical shapes. It takes a little bit of an effort for an operatorto remember where these are located, and the details of the individualkeys, but after a few hours of frequent use, they will be recalledspontaneously and effortlessly.

It will also be noted that the group of keys running from top to bottomon the left hand side of the keyboard has to do with radicals which arefound on the left hand side of words. Similarly, at the top of thekeyboard, the group of keys extending in a horizontal line towards thecentre has to do with units that form the top part of words. The threegroups of keys with their units shaped like “”, “” and “” contain thoseunits usually located at the top-left, bottom-left and top-right cornersof a character. In like fashion, the groups of keys on the main body ofthe keyboard possess units oriented to various common shapes. Suchgroups are rudimental strokes (dots, horizontal strokes, verticalstokes), X shapes, and variation of crosses, squares, rectangles andhooks. The largest group of 25 is located at the centre. Within eachgroup, the individual keys are arranged in a logical order. For example,from one dot to two dots or from one line to two lines, and so on.

If the individual keys as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are compared, it willbe noticed that a few of the units do not necessarily share the commonforms of their hosts. They are strategically located there because theseunits can only form meaningful or valid combination with another unit,usually the centre unit on the same key. For example, “” is placed onthe “” key because it can only combine with the latter to form “” or itsderivatives. On the other hand, some units on the same key are not onlyplaced there by virtue of common forms, but also by “association ofideas” with their host keys, or the keys next to the key in question.For example, the words “” (careful). “” appears on the same key with “”.Or the words, “” (mister or teacher) are separately placed on adjacentkeys.

As mentioned above, if there is a particular pattern at the top of thecharacter, the search would normally be at the top of the keyboard. Alsoas already mentioned, each key tends to have a somewhat definitive unitso that the operator can readily ascertain the required key.

When discussing it in this manner, one is assuming that the operator haslittle knowledge of the keyboard. It will be appreciated that onfrequent use, the location of a given area and possibly of specific keysby the operator will become completely intuitive. Touch-typing becomes adistinct possibility.

After the required key is struck, the operator then looks for anotheridentifying component of the required character, finds the key andstrikes it. This continues until the desired character has beenconstructed. Experience has shown that no more than four keystrokes arerequired to construct any given character, even if the constructionprocess of the desired character is not completed. It is anticipatedthat every character of a particular “Character Set” will be able to beconstructed or developed without failure within four key strokes.

The system of these embodiments of the invention is fully compatiblewith all Chinese language character sets. The number of charactersincorporated in the system depends on the requirements of that systemand its choice of “Character Set”. For example, the “SimplifiedCharacter Set” (GB Popular Edition) used as the national standard in thePeople's Republic of China has about 7,000 characters, whereas a“traditional character” set such as the “Taiwan Industrial ComputerCode” (Big-5), has over 13,000 characters. All these are able to beconstructed with the respective embodiments of the invention.

Rules for Using the Keyboard

The keyboards of the embodiments illustrated follow the general rules ofwriting Chinese characters. In other words, the entry of keystrokes willcorrespond to the sequence of writing the same by hand. However,provisions are made for occasional departures from these. For instance,when two units are to be merged, the unit incorporating the first strokeof the union is to be keyed in first in full. By contrast, if the sametwo units are to be written by hand, it often happens that the writerwould write part of the first unit, then the second or third unit, andcome back to complete the first unit. The operator should observe thisfundamental rule. However, an occasional departure from this rule shouldrelate only to radicals and “composite blocks”. As a concrete example,the conventional way of writing a “box” character is to write the openbox, then fill in details inside the box according to the stroke orderbefore closing the box. The departure from the rule when dealing with“composite blocks” is that the “box radical” should be keyed in firstand then its contents. By contrast, in writing the “box” manually, thewriter writes the bottom horizontal stroke last to close the “box”.Nevertheless, the characteristic flexibility of the keyboard of theinvention allows the operator in most instances to input the “box” inthe hand-written way as well.

Where a character has the desired two units on the same key, or wherethe same unit on the same key is needed more than once, then this key isstruck the number of times required. If the combination is a valid one,the desired result will ensue.

In the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, there are up to 24 waysthe operator can construct the same character. More ways may beincorporated if desired. The operator can use different combinations ofdifferent keys, and of different numbers of keys, to construct the samecharacter. These combinations take into consideration unintended inputand perception errors. In this fashion maximum input flexibility isachieved. To operate the keyboard effectively, whilst skill isdesirable, the skill required of the operator is chiefly related to theidentification of visual blocks and striking the keys associated withthem.

As a general rule, when words are constructed with the keyboard of theembodiments illustrated, no matter how complicated a word is, it shouldbe visualised in no more than four separate but natural parts or units.The operator must bear in mind that instead of constructing words astroke at a time, it should be constructed by blocks. A vast majority ofwords will conform to this way of visualisation. The comparatively fewwords that go beyond four parts or units do not cause any difficulty. Itis only necessary to simply key in the first four units. The processingsystem will supply the remaining parts automatically. When words arevisualised in this way, it is found that an operator can locate the keyscontaining the required units very quickly and easily. In many instancesthe flexibility of the system allows for a breakdown of the units in avariety of ways.

Some examples of word construction are as follows: =+++ Or ++. =+++. =+;Or ++. =++; Or +++. =+ Or +++. Or ++++( ). Or ++++( ). Or ++++( ).

Parts in ( ) are automatically filled in after the 4th keystroke.

Description of the Process and Functions of the System

As referred to above, in order to obtain an output from the keyboard,each key is mapped according to its position in the columns and rows ofthe keyboard. The letter represents the column and the first digit therow, and the second digit represents whether the key in the “Base” or“Shift” mode.

Furthermore, the same keys on the keyboard of the present embodimentsare used in exactly the same way, whether used for constructing“Traditional” or “Simplified” characters.

Thus, whenever a key is struck, the unit value of that key is stored inmemory, and when a further key is struck, the unit value relating tothat key is appended to the first in the stored memory, and so on. Thedesign order of the unit values and joint values (string values) ofvalid combinations corresponds to a value stored in a key value matrixtable and interfaces with a predetermined translation table for thecharacter set, such as those shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, whereby theappropriate character is generated by the keystroke combination. It willbe seen from these figures that the different keystroke combinations aremapped to the “Internal Codes” of the various Chinese characters wherebyeach character can be identified. The translation table for thecharacter set is preferably loaded into the memory of the operatingsystem.

In one embodiment, on the first key being struck, an effective andimmediate search is made of the database for a valid charactercorresponding to the value of that key. If a particular character isfound, it can be displayed in, for example, a window at a corner of adisplay screen. Upon the next key being struck, if the combination ofthe two keystrokes is a valid one, a similar search for a validcharacter corresponding to the value of these combined keys can be made.The result can be made to replace the earlier display. And so on withthe third and fourth keystroke. At any of the stages of the constructionprocess, when the desired character is displayed, the process can bemade to terminate by a function key such as the space bar. When thathappens, the desired character is transferred from the display area tothe appropriate place in the body of the text area. In the illustratedembodiments, keystrokes after the fourth and before transfer of thedisplayed character to the text will be ignored. Alternatively, if theconstruction process reaches the fourth or final stage, the desiredcharacter can be made to appear momentary in the display area, and thenbe automatically transferred in to the text area. The visual displaydevice may function as a user's aid and may be made to be turned on oroff at will.

Thus, as a rule, it will only be necessary for the operator to enter therequisite and valid combination of keys to retrieve a particularcharacter. As mentioned earlier, this would require a maximum of fourkeystrokes. At the fourth keystroke, even if the assembled form appearsto be incomplete, the four keystrokes are sufficient in the constructionprocess to fully identify and retrieve the desired character from thecharacter set. If the combination of units keyed in is not a valid one,then a blank will be displayed and the operator may try again. It isanticipated that this situation would rarely, if ever, occur as it isanticipated that all combinations of up to four keystrokes will bepointed to at least one character.

Various databases may be created to interface with most of the existingand popular character sets. The preferred embodiments of this inventionprovide databases to interface with the GB (Popular Edition) and theBig-5 character sets. The GB set is the People's Republic of Chinanational standard for Chinese character computer communications. TheBig-5 set is the Taiwanese industrial computer character code. Asmentioned earlier, they have more than 7,000 simplified and 13,000traditional characters respectively. There is no reason why this can notbe done for new versions of the existing character set codes or newcodes when they come into being.

Hard copy (printed page) of texts on screen or on stored files may beprinted in their default form. It could be possible to have the textsconverted and printed in another form, for example, from “traditionalcharacters” to “simplified characters” and vice visa. However when thisis done vice versa, corrections of wrongly converted characters may berequired. Of course the quality of the print and the type of fonts willdepend upon the printers, their capabilities, software and accessories.

The technology of the system hereindescribed incorporates both hardwareand software. As stated above, it encompasses the following:

An array of specially created “building blocks” of “non-radicalcomposite blocks”;

An array of strokes, radicals and characters;

A unique keyboard layout of the keys;

For the purpose of constructing characters, a defined order, flexiblesequence and combination of key-strokes;

A database of the defined order, sequence and combination of key-strokesas well as references to code definitions of a particular ChineseCharacter Set (Big-5 or GB); and

A translation table for the character set;

The interface program, the driver.

A key value matrix table, which corresponds to the design order of thekey-values and string of key-values of input combinations, interfaceswith the translation table of the character set shown in FIGS. 9 and 10which, when in operation, is resident in, or has been loaded into thememory of the operating system. The particular character set referred tomay be the GB, the Big-5 or any other far east character set.

When a search is activated, the key value provides the basis for a matchwith the translation table of the character set. The particular code ofthe character set that is resident in the memory of the operating systemis the depository bank from which Chinese characters are retrieved. Thusa successful search and match downloads the Chinese character from thecharacter set, displays it on the screen, and moves the screen cursorone position to the right. Otherwise, there is no change on the screen.

The system of the invention can be used for software applications otherthan word processing, such as database and spreadsheets. It can also beapplied to a number of new applications.

For example, current dictionaries of Chinese characters areextraordinarily difficult to use. Generally, they are based on thenumber of strokes of the character, and the classification of radicals.The present application leads to a very straightforward dictionary.Thus, when the valid visual units of the character are entered, thecharacter displayed could be displayed as has been described togetherwith the dictionary definitions, synonyms, visual representations(graphics and video), audio representations (pronunciation and sound),and other texts. Furthermore, and in addition or on its own, thedictionary definitions could be in a language other than Chinese. Thesystem also can be applied to reading texts that have been loaded intomemory. This has exciting implications for the visually impaired.

This could be taken somewhat further. It could be particularly usefulfor students and others when there could be an audible expression of thecharacter, as well as the dictionary definition. Of course, forstudents, pronunciation of even basically straightforward characterscould be a very useful attribute. The system of the invention can bedirected to a whole new range of educational applications, both hardwareas well as software. Examples of the former are turnkey devices and theChinese electronic typewriter.

With the provision of the appropriate drivers, the technology may beapplied to different operating and generic systems. For users without aChinese-enabled environment, appropriate software may be provided andincorporated into the technology. This would make the technology fullycompatible with all existing environments, platforms and genericsystems.

All the essential software and database may be encrypted and installedin a programmable random access memory (PRAM) temper-proof chip locatedin the keyboard.

The use of the keyboards illustrated is relatively easy and their use isvery flexible. Many operators, after a few hours use will discover thatthey can find their way around the keyboard intuitively. Speed andaccuracy also develop rapidly.

To facilitate recognition of the different strokes, radicals,non-radical blocks and characters on the keys, different colours may beused to distinguish representations on the individual keys. For example,the keys may show strokes, radicals, non-radical blocks and charactersas follows:

a) Simple strokes—coloured red in map of the keyboard.

b) Crosses (coloured blue) which are subdivided into single crosses,double crosses, multiple crosses, upright crosses, oblique crosses, andvarious combinations of the last two.

c) Squares (coloured yellow) which are subdivided into squarescontaining horizontal strokes, squares with vertical strokes, squareswith crosses, squares attached to an oblique stroke, squares attached toa single or double dots. It should be noted that a large empty square,as distinct from its small counterpart, has to be filled in with partsinside its boundaries. If the square contains nothing or the enclosedparts extend over the boundaries, it is deemed to be a small square.

d) Symmetric units (which for convenience can be coloured brown) arepairs of mirrored images, not repeated images. In this group, “ ” may betreated as one component or as two distinct and separate components.

e) Left, right, top, bottom and corner units can be coloured green.

f) Characters of high frequency can be coloured orange. (The coloursare, of course optional and can themselves be varied.) Other features ofthe key functions include:

g) Each key contains two embedded characters, one in the “normal” andthe other in the “shift” position. To key in a “shift” unit (can be ingreen typeface), the “shift key” has to be pressed and held down.

h) To use any component on a key either to input a full characterthereon or to construct a character with another key or keys, just pressthat key. It is not necessary to take into account the other units onthe key. The many parts on any key are processed in a mutually exclusivemanner. When 2, 3 or 4 keys are pressed in succession, or when one keyis pressed more than once, only one valid character can result.

i) Three particular units are encased in square brackets. They are [],[]and [], which must be used for merging with units on the same or anotherkey. This is to overcome the uncertainty regarding the use of and , and, or and ,especially when they are a tiny part of complex characters. Byplacing them alongside their look-a-likes, and treating them as one andthe same, the ambiguity is removed.

j) Units placed with “round” brackets can only be used with other keysfor the construction of characters. If they are properties of thecharacter set, they can be constructed in the normal way or by keying inthe Chinese period mark “°” first, followed by the keys containing theunits. With round brackets on the top and the bottom, the period mark“°” has to be pressed twice followed by the key containing the unit.

In an earlier reference, mention was made of the various optionsavailable for the incorporation of the English alphabet, Roman alphabetand Arabic numerals within the keyboard of the invention. It is a matterof interest that along with other useful symbols, most character setshave incorporated them. It needs to be pointed out at this stage thatthe primary purpose of the invention to incorporate the alphanumericdevice is to allow for the transcription of foreign texts such as terms,names, and formulae. Although such a feature opens the way for interfacewith existing “spelling” systems and methods, it is not intendedprimarily for such a purpose.

The solution provided by the system of the invention is a radicaldeparture from all the existing systems and methods. Its approach isbased on the inherent nature of the Chinese character itself and theunique design of the invention. First of all and as we have pointed outearlier, Chinese characters, being all monosyllables, are homophonouslyinclined and tonal in nature. They may look similar or totally differentfrom one another, or may have similar or totally different meanings. Butthey form natural groupings because groups of characters share the samecommon audio values. And within each common audio value, they fall intotheir four respective tonal levels. These audio and tonal values are byand large of a fixed nature, not subject to change because ofcontextual, syntactic and other circumstances. However, there are manyexceptions. The GB character set takes full cognition of this feature.Its character code is arranged in descending order (A to F and 0 to 9)according to its audio and tonal values. Secondly, Chinese charactersexist in “association”. That is, a specific character always exists orare in use “in association with” another specific character orcharacters. The “Lian-xiang” (association of ideas) is a feature inpopular Chinese word processing packages.

The keyboard and system of the invention is built on two salientfeatures. As has been explained earlier, construction of characters isby way of units and valid combination of units. In simple terms, theprocess is one of “copy typing” —from memory or from a given text. Inthe event of wanting to know how to pronounce a certain character, theoperator simply constructs the character and initiates a search. Itwould be a simply matter to add to the current system database andinterface the audio details required to produce an audio representationof the character.

The Chinese Language Keyboard of the present invention delivers to theChinese user features and functionality surpassing that delivered by theQwerty keyboard to the English user. All characters are formed directlyon the keyboard thereby allowing speeds in input. Its process ofcharacter formation is simple and easy to learn. All “Simplified” and“Traditional” characters can be typed directly from the keyboard. Forinput purposes, allowances are made for many variant forms of the samewords. Users are not limited to one rigid way of typing a given word. Itallows for marginal errors. Users do not need to switch manually fromChinese to English system input and back again when typing mixed texts.There are no requirements for selection of targeted words from wordlists. There are no exceptions, special cases or complex rules to learn.On-screen help and function keys are provided to enable users to searchfor words with the same phonetic values. They can listen to the standardpronunciation of words, or have the text on the screen read. The lastconstructed character can be captured and brought back onto the screen.All these from the one and same “intelligent” and ultra versatilekeyboard.

The specification has discussed generally the application of theinvention to Chinese characters, both traditional and simplified. It isto be understood that exactly the same principles can be applied toother languages using ideographs or graphic indicea representations ofthe language structure. For example, the invention could easily beapplied to a Japanese language system.

What is claimed is:
 1. A keyboard for inputting graphical indiciumrepresentations of language characters formed from one or a combinationof character units, the keyboard comprising a plurality of keys, eachkey having at least one unit associated therewith but with selectedkeys, at least, having two or more units associated therewith, the twoor more units all being different and each forming at leas a part of acharacter, a key mapping for each key whereby selection of a keygenerates a mapped value of a unit associated with the selected key, themapped value having a relational correlation with one or more relevantcharacters, and selection of one or more further keys which areassociated with the same or other units provide further mapped valuesconsistent with at least one of the relevant characters such that acharacter that is unique to the selected key or combination of keys isdetermined, the keys being so arranged on the keyboard that visuallysimilar units are associated with the same of adjacent keys, and unitswhich usually form left, right top or bottom character parts areassociated with keys generally located in physically similarly relatedpositions on the left, right, top and bottom, respectively, of thekeyboard.
 2. A keyboard according to claim 1 wherein each key has twocharacter units associated therewith, one of said units being selectedupon actuation of the key in normal mode and the other unit beingselected upon actuation of the key in shifted mode.
 3. A keyboardaccording to claim 2 wherein the units on each key have a commonfeature.
 4. A keyboard according to claim 3 wherein the common featureof the units associated with each key is displayed on the respectivekey.
 5. A keyboard according to claim 1, wherein each character unitcomprises a stroke, radical, non-radical composite block or a character.6. A keyboard according to claim 1, wherein the keys are disposed insub-groups of one or more keys forming such sub-groups of keys, all thekeys in each sub-group having at least one common characteristic.
 7. Akeyboard according to claim 1, wherein the keyboard is used forinputting Chinese characters and the units are units of Chinesecharacters.
 8. A keyboard according to claim 1, wherein the keyboard hasprovision to provide characters, including those from a roman alphabetin addition to the units.
 9. A keyboard according to claim 1 wherein thekeys having visually similar units are arranged in groupings visuallyseparated from other groupings on the keyboard.
 10. A keyboard accordingto claim 1 wherein, in addition to the units associated with each key,selected keys also have one or two characters associated therewith suchthat actuation of a selected key in a first key operative mode causesthe associated character to be displayed in a display screens.
 11. Akeyboard according to claim 10 wherein said key mapping is responsive toselected key selection to cause the display of a character to indicatein a contrasting colour additional strokes which may be added to thedisplayed character by a second actuation of the first selected key toconstruct a desired character utilising the first selected character.12. A keyboard according to claim 10 wherein each unit and characterassociated with any one of the selected keys is selected according tothe key mapping and the actuation of any other key in a key actuationsequence to give rise to only one character for each possible keyactuation sequence.
 13. A keyboard according to claim 1 wherein keysassociated with the visually similar units having strokes predominantlyforming an upper left corner character part are disposed at an upper,left location on the keyboard, the keys associated with the visuallysimilar units having strokes predominantly forming an upper, rightcorner character part are disposed at an upper, right location on thekeyboard, and the keys associated with the visually similar units havingstrokes predominantly forming an upper character part are disposed at anupper location on the keyboard.
 14. A method of constructing graphicalindicium representations of language characters formed from one or acombination of character units including the steps of: providing akeyboard having a plurality of keys each having a first mode ofactuation and at least selected keys having a second mode of actuation,each key having at least one character unit associated therewith, atleast selected keys having two or more units associated therewith, eachcharacter unit being different from each other unit, and each forming atleast a part of a character to be constructed, arranging keys so thatvisually similar units are on the same or adjacent keys, furtherarranging keys so that keys associated with units which usually formleft, right, top or bottom character parts are associated with keysgenerally located in physically similarly related positions on the left,right, top and bottom, respectively, of the keyboard mapping each keyoperational mode to a key value which is a relational correlation withone or more relevant characters, generating one or more character inresponse to a first or subsequent key actuation and constructing acharacter in accordance with the actuations or the sequence of keyactuations.
 15. A method according to claim 14 including the steps ofrecording the key value of the key when a key is actuated, recording thekey value when a second key is actuated, and so on, the recorded valuesbeing used to search for a valid character.
 16. A method as claimed inclaim 14 including the steps of commencing the search for a validcharacter after the first key is actuated, displaying any validcharacter found, continuing the search and displaying any validcharacter as each further key is actuated until the desired character isdisplayed.
 17. A method as claimed in claim 16 including the steps ofdisplaying a valid character as each key is actuated and adding this tomaterial being prepared when it is the desired character.
 18. A methodas claimed in claim 14 including the step of adding a displayed validcharacter to material being prepared by actuation of a function key. 19.A method as claimed in claim 18 wherein the function key is the spacebar.
 20. A method as claimed in claim 14 including the steps of adding acharacter to material being prepared after a predetermined maximumnumber of keys has been actuated.
 21. A method as claimed in claim 20wherein the maximum number is four.
 22. A method as claimed in claim 14,wherein a character as displayed and any characters later printed whichare based on the display are obtained from standard character sets. 23.A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the generated character is usedin a word processing operation.
 24. A method as claimed in claim 14,wherein the generated character is used in a dictionary.